Spring exit interview: QBs coach Mike Norvell

Over the next few weeks, I’ll talk to Arizona State position coaches about what they learned in the spring. Today: quarterbacks.

Big producers: In his first season of starting, Taylor Kelly completed a school-record 67.1 percent of his passes for 3,039 yards and 29 touchdowns. He threw just nine interceptions, all coming in ASU losses. (Something his coaches no doubt have pointed out a million times). Kelly finished second in the Pac-12 in passing efficiency (159.88) and placed ninth nationally. A dual-threat, Kelly also rushed for 516 yards and a touchdown. … Eubank played situationally last season, throwing for 330 yards and rushing for 223 more.

Arriving in the summer: No one on scholarship.

Coach: Mike Norvell begins his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Under his guidance, the Sun Devils last season averaged 38.4 points, their most in 16 years. (Twitter: CoachNorvellASU)

First off, how much easier was it this time given this was your second spring?

“Things went a lot smoother. Guys had a better understanding of expectation, but we still emphasized a lot of base. We emphasized getting better at running our offense and getting better at the little things like fundamentals and discipline. That was definitely a positive, and then we were able to look at a couple different things and see what works and that was good for us.”

Taylor Kelly (above) exceeded expectations in his first season as starter. His next step?

“Just his overall understanding of the offense. You get that first year under your belt and that experience is huge, but he needs to continue to grow and understand every situation. How teams are trying to attack us. He needs to get quicker with his reads. How to become more efficient at getting the ball out. Obviously, this spring he was a lot more confident and he played a lot more faster than he did last year. You know, everybody talks about the growth that he had between last spring and when he came back in the fall — I challenged him to have the same growth. I want to see that same improvement from Year 1 to Year 2.”

How is he in the film room?

“He comes in every day. It’s funny, he was telling me yesterday that he’s been watching our first couple opponents for next year and he’s got a good understanding of what they’re doing. That’s always good whenever your players are coming to you with thoughts. He’s done a great job of taking that extra time in preparing himself.”

How did Michael Eubank (above) progress from his redshirt-freshman season?

“He’s definitely improved. He’s a guy that came in and spent a ton of extra time leading up to spring ball. There were days when I came into the office on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and he’s in there watching film or down in the weight room, getting extra footwork drills. You like to see that. And then to come out in the spring and show improvement, that’s always very positive.”

It’s obvious Eubank is strong with the ball. How has he improved as a passer?

“Mike has a great arm and he can make a lot of different throws. It’s just the understanding of what we’re doing offensively, the rhythm and timing of getting the ball out and making sure his eyes are in the right place. He showed some improvement there this spring, and I challenged him to continue to get better in those areas and come back even better. That’s going to do nothing but help him and help our football team.”

Is the plan still to get him on the field in certain situations?

“That’s something we’re looking at. He brings a skill-set that’s very unique. He can do some great things. There’s definitely some packages we thought we could utilize him in and he did a great job with those this spring.”

Mike Bercovici (above) looked sharp for most of the spring. What’d you see from him?

“He might have had the best spring (in terms of) improvement. … He had a really good spring with his body. (Bercovici said he dropped 20 pounds). I remember you asking me if I thought that suited him more for what we do. … It was never a factor of him not being suited for the offense. It’s just he’s put himself in position physically to maximize his talent. I thought he did a great job and was really able to showcase himself and his understanding of the offense. He made quite a few plays.”

Is he the best passer of the three?

“He can make a lot of throws. He and (Eubank) both have extremely strong arms, but when you look at quickness of getting the ball out, the release, he definitely does a good job at that.”

You guys emphasize ball security so much. Which quarterback did the best job with this during the spring?

“We grade things a little differently. Sometimes maybe (the pass) wasn’t intercepted, but you still put the ball in jeopardy. Or when you’re running the ball and the ball is not secured. And really the guys were pretty balanced with that. One guy would have a scrimmage that was pretty good and then maybe he didn’t do as good a job the next practice. But overall, it was actually pretty close. It was improvement from last spring, but it’s not where we need it to be.”

How do you keep all three quarterbacks happy?

“Each guy has a role on this team. They’re competing every single day. We talked about, obviously, the jump that Taylor had between his spring last year to where he was when he reported to fall camp. I want to see each one of those guys have the same kind of jump. When we come into fall camp, we’ll have a plan but I think those guys will have a chance to compete and get our offense ready to go win football games.”

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